(Rochester, MN) — Nov. 28, 2023 — Mayo Clinic’s Board of Trustees has approved Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester, a multiyear strategic initiative that advances Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. strategy to Cure, Connect and Transform healthcare for the benefit of patients everywhere. It reimagines Mayo Clinic’s downtown Rochester campus and introduces new facilities with a combination of innovative care concepts and digital technologies that will give Mayo Clinic the ability to scale transformation in ways never before imagined.
This Rochester initiative is part of Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. Unbound. plan to achieve seamless integration of physical spaces and digital capabilities to meet patients’ unmet and evolving needs across all sites. Projects are well underway in Arizona, Florida, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Mankato, Minnesota and now soon in Rochester, Minnesota.
“Mayo Clinic has a 160-year history of leading the world in healthcare innovation. As part of our Bold. Forward. strategy, we have a once-in-three generations opportunity to redefine the future of healthcare,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO, Mayo Clinic. “Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester will enable transformation by blurring the lines across hospital, clinic and digital care to help our teams anticipate our patients’ needs, accelerate more cures and greater connections to our patients.”
Unique architectural elements and spaces in the new facilities will support hope and healing through nature, sunlight, and horizontally and vertically connected neighborhoods. These community-centered neighborhoods will bring services together around common patient needs and diseases, creating continuous care environments that will serve as patients’ homes while they are at Mayo Clinic.
“Innovation is part of our DNA at Mayo Clinic because of our incredible staff. The inherent desire of our teams to push the boundaries of what’s possible for patients will once again change the course of medicine for the next century,” says Christina Zorn, chief administrative officer, Mayo Clinic. “We will always need a place for our patients to receive in-person care. It’s exciting to imagine what could be possible by seamlessly integrating digital capabilities and physical spaces.”
“We are reimagining Category-of-One experiences both for our staff and the patients,” says Craig Daniels, M.D., physician leader of Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester. “Patients expect us to know their needs before they walk in our doors, and our staff want to spend more time on meaningful connections with their patients. With Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester, we can deliver on both. It’s a very exciting time to be part of Mayo Clinic.”
Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester will introduce five new buildings, related infrastructure and utilities — all with future-oriented design elements.
The project includes intentionally flexible spaces that are a first-of-its-kind feature in a healthcare facility, thanks to something called a flexible grid. In a typical hospital building, certain floors and spaces are designed for surgery, others for hospital beds, and others for imaging support. All have different specifications, like ceiling heights and materials. In Mayo Clinic’s new clinical buildings, specific spaces or entire floors will be able to shift from patient room to operating room, to diagnostic imaging suite as needs change over time.
The new buildings total approximately 2.4 million square feet of space infused with technology to improve care delivery. Structural and architectural components will allow for future expansion. Existing spaces will also be redesigned to support growing patient needs prior to the completion of new facilities. The total investment of the project is $5 billion over six years.
